St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-01-24
THE GOOD PRESENT.
Quite as G God as the Past, According
to Rev. NIiilspaugh.

''These are as good days to live in as those
of the past" preached Rev. Frank r. Mills
paugh to congreg alton which is growing
larger week by week at st. Paul's. The text
was from EccleSiastes VIII, 10. "Say not thou
what is the cause that the former days were
better than these, for thou does not wisely
inquire concerning this" He who has looked
with so much satisfaction on the beautiful
hamlet as it lay on the meandering stream in
the distant valley is frequently disguised on
entering it with the squaiidness and disorder
which everywhere meets his eyes. Now we
are inclined to behave that there is much the
same power in distance with regard to the
moral landscape. Actions which appeared at
the moment of performance harsh
and unwarrantable have a noble air
when seen in the glass of history.
You will hardly meet an old person who is
not pathetic in his lamentation on the altered
state of things. We dissent from those who
imagine that our age has been fruitful of new
social evils. That which is new is the intelli-
gence which discerns them and the humanity
which relieves them. Sin was never an in
FAINT; it was giant at birth. You may fix
upon time when there was less open
wickedness; but this would not necessarily
have been better time for individual piety.
The grand sources of happiness and unhap-
pinesS have never undergone a change. The
heart of man in every age has been equally
corrupt, and the government OF God equally
merciful and equally impartial. Some think
if they could have seen miracles wrought
saw the miracles of our Lord were
not convinced of the truth which
he taught. The great mass OF
the Jews remained absolutely infidel.
Have s.ss& miracles been wrought? You
may cs:. 1t credulity to believe when num-
bers whose veracity 1 cannot impeach have
combined in one CONSTANT statement to the
contrary. We call it creduity to believe
that these NUMBERS are unworthy of belief.
1t is the unbelieving who is the credulous
man. The religion of our Savior now ap-
peals to rnightier proofs than when it first en-
gagged in combats with the world. Its own
majestic triumph witnesses for Tits ac-
complished predictions-Jerusalem still
trodden down. The rise and spread of
Mohometism and many others attest the
divinity OF its origin with an emphasis. The
former days were not letter than these-if
you are not eminent in Christianity graces
now, you would never have been. The mani
feStation of goodness at one time may be the
courage Of the martyr, at another the
integrity of the man Of business. 1t
ought to make us more hopeful and
confident for the future that there is so much
in the past, on which to rest and from which
to draw lessons. 1t is an Unreasonable priv
ilege that we live in days when Gods course
of dealings with the righteous has been trans
mitted to us by a long line of witnesses 1t
Is much which science Is ever shedding on
the word of God. Mysteries which not only
baffied but appalled, an earlier generation
have resolved themselves into appliances for
helping on our purposes. But to-day is more
precious, not SO much because of the multi
piled achievements of the astronomer, the
profound discoveries of the chemist, or the
gigantic triumphs of the augur, as that he
can send back his gaze over a long line of the
RECORDS of the church, q line thronged ut
every point with becoming forms which show
him the heavenward path